


Wait for Me (In Hell)

by imaginationtherapy



Category: Endeavour (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Blood and Injury, Bromance, Endeavour Morse is a self-sacrificing idiot, Epic Bromance, Gen, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt/Comfort, Magical Realism, Sort Of, Suicidal Thoughts, The Ship In Which You Sail/Rusty Cage Universe, healing spells gone wrong, i'm on my bullshit again i'm sorry, just references to, lets be real, no this is an
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:49:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21725539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginationtherapy/pseuds/imaginationtherapy
Summary: Endeavour "Morse" and Peter Jakes, Captain and Commander of the Guard. Over the years, they've formed a friendship that defies all odds. They've been each other's support and backup. They've leaned on each other, patched each other up, kept each other going.No matter what the cost.So on this gray day, when a young man makes a terrible decision, Endeavour Thursday decides to do whatever it takes to save his best friend. He's lost too many people already.Set in the same universe asThe Ship in Which You Sail,So Fades the Early Portion of our WorldandRusty Cage. I would recommend you read The Ship in Which You Sail first, if you haven't already. This is set before Rusty Cage.
Relationships: Peter Jakes & Endeavour Morse
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	Wait for Me (In Hell)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hekate1308](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hekate1308/gifts).



> Sorry, sorry, sorry. You know how I said writing can be a coping skill for me? Welp. Guess who is anxious af and stress writing? This human. Heh. Sorry. So sorry. Kinda.
> 
> Anyhow. This is in the same magical realism universe that Hekate1308 created and in which I've been dabbling. I decided I wanted to explore the spell that Peter uses in Rusty cage (and is referenced in So Fades).

The bullet burned white hot as it ripped through him.. He felt it tear through his skin, breaking bones and blood vessels along the way. He felt it punch out of him, stealing the air from his lungs as it left. He felt the warm stain of his own lifeblood as it spread over his chest. He felt a laugh, raw and ugly, bubble out of him as he fell.

 _So this is how it ends_. Not with vampire teeth in his neck. Not by his own hands. Not with a witches’ spell. Not even by a clever murderer. No, just a scared young man who didn’t even realize his finger was on the trigger. Just a boy, really. A boy who made a few bad decisions, and would now go away for killing a copper. 

_God, it hurt_.

He didn’t mind, really. He was surprised he’d made it this far. As deaths went, this wouldn’t be a bad one. They would call him a hero, probably. Something like that. It would be okay. The pain would last for a few minutes longer, he knew it wouldn’t be more than that. There was too much blood. But then it would be over. He just had to breathe through it.

Then he heard the scream.

It wasn’t his voice. No, his lungs were expanding and contracting steadily--if a little shaky. That wasn’t his voice either. Besides, that scream was filled with anger. He wasn’t angry. He was calm. It wasn’t Williams’ voice either. He could hear Williams sobbing somewhere in the background. If it wasn’t him screaming, or Williams--

_Oh god._

_Shit. No._

_Endeavour._

Jakes coughed, gagging on the taste of copper on his tongue. He forced his eyes open, forced himself to look up. He found himself face to face with his best friend.

_Fuck._

“Peter, Peter! _God--Peter, no._ ” 

_He’d forgotten about Endeavour_.

“Peter, please-- _oh God._ ” 

Endeavour’s hands were on him, so gentle and so warm, turning him over and pulling him into an embrace. God, why was he so cold? It didn’t matter--Dev was warm. Jakes smiled faintly. Dev had him. It would be okay.

“Peter, you can’t do this to me. _Peter, please._ ” 

That wasn’t right. Endeavour sounded broken, like he was crying, like he was losing his family all over again. Jakes felt darkness closing in on him, but he forced his eyes open angrily. _Who...who was hurting Dev? They didn’t get to do that._

Jakes eyes blinked open. Dev was staring at him, his blue eyes full of pain and sorrow and anger. Jakes almost flinched from the strength of the emotions in his best friend’s eyes.

“Endeavour.” His voice was barely a whisper, and it devolved into a cough as he tasted more blood on his tongue. He reached a shaky hand up to Endeavour’s shoulder, shocked when it left a red streak on Dev’s shoulder. 

Dev grabbed his hand. His grip was crushing. “Peter, _you can’t leave me._ ” There were tears on Dev’s face. They were streaming down his cheeks. _Why._ “Peter--” 

_Damn it._

His mind was too slow. It must be the blood loss. But Jakes remembered then. Remembered the years that had passed between them. Remembered the times they had talked each other through the night. Remembered how he leaned on Dev. Remembered what Dev had told him not two weeks ago.

 _You keep me sane, Peter Jakes. I don’t know if I could do this_ \--he meant Inspector Thursday, Jakes remembered-- _without you._ _I almost gave up, that week we met._

_Shit._

That look was back in Dev’s eyes. That haunted one. The one that scared Jakes whenever he saw it. Because it was the same look he’d seen in his own eyes on those dark nights when he wondered what it felt like to die.

“ _Endeavour…_ ” Dammit, why couldn’t he talk. Why couldn’t he _think_. He had to stop Dev from looking like that. He did stupid things when he got that look in his eyes. Things that almost got them killed. Dev couldn’t die. Not...not till he got his family back. Not till long after that. Not yet.

“ _Peter_. No.” Dev’s voice was a whisper, jagged and sharp. It cut Jakes, hurt more than the blasted bullet.

 _I’m still here_ , he wanted to stay. _I’m right here. Dev, it’ll be okay. You’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. Just...hold me for a bit. You can do this._

Dev let out a sob. It slammed into Jakes, burned into his soul. His best friend’s heart was breaking and damn it, _he_ was to blame.

He got angry at Williams then. What gave him the right to make that decision? They--him and Dev--they’d both made mistakes. They’d both lost people. Neither one of them lashed out, neither one of them decided to turn a gun on someone else. Neither one of them had _killed_ anyone. How _dare_ Williams do that to Dev. How _dare_ he.

Jakes blinked up at Dev, trying to talk but only choking again. He caught the look on Dev’s face and he knew. Dev was going to do something stupid. That look in his eyes. The anger and the pain and the fear. Jakes watched it ignite, watched Dev’s hands move, felt the tell-tale spark of Dev’s magic.

 _Don’t, Dev_ , he wanted to beg. _Don’t take it out on the kid. Don’t...revenge isn’t the way. Don’t---don’t kill him. Don’t hurt him, please._

Jakes felt the burning pain in his chest dull. He knew this was it. He knew he was dying. That’s what it meant, when the pain disappeared.

He hadn’t even managed to say goodbye. Jakes sucked in a deep breath. Hadn’t managed to tell Dev what he meant to him. Hadn’t--

Wait.

He could breathe. 

That...that wasn’t right. He could _breathe_. And he couldn’t taste that sickening copper on his tongue anymore. The pain...it hadn’t disappeared. It hadn’t numbed. It was still there. It just...it was fading?

Jakes swallowed, tried to think. He found that he _could_ think. The ringing in his ears had faded. The warm, wet sensation on his chest had cooled to an uncomfortable tackiness. And he could feel...he could feel Dev’s magic in the air, still. 

No. Not in the air.

Inside _him_.

_Shit._

Jakes’ eyes flew open. Dev’s face was hovering over his, eyes closed and lips moving silently.

 _Fuck_.

Dev was _gray_. All the color had drained from his face, his hair was sticking to his sweat-drenched forehead.

“Endeavour, _no_ \--” he could barely get the words out, could barely rasp them as the air forced itself out of his rapidly healing lungs. “ _Too much._ ”

Dev’s head twitched to the side in a silent _no._

_Dammit. Shit. Fuck. Christ._

Jakes could feel his strength returning. He struggled against Dev’s vice-like grip on his arm. 

_He can’t do this. It’s too much. Dammit._

Healing spells were meant for _Healers_ . Only Healers could use magic that potent, that dangerous. Only Healers knew how to control the backlash, how to keep the spell from draining them, how to keep their bodies from taking on the pain and sickness as its own. Non-healers couldn’t keep the spell from transferring. The universe sought balance. The magic of the spell Dev was casting could take the pain and the damage from one body, but the universe would demand reparation. Healers knew how to keep the balance. _Only_ Healers could keep the balance.

“Dev, _stop."_ Jakes tugged on his arm. 

Dev had gone too far, he could feel it. The hole was still in his chest--Dev couldn’t heal that--but his body had stopped bleeding, his lungs had stopped hemorrhaging. He’d done more than the healing spell was meant to, even for an advanced Healer. 

And then he saw it. 

Blood.

Trailing down Dev’s face. Trickling from his nose. Spreading from his ear.

_No, no, no!_

“Endeavour.” Jakes shook his arm. It got Dev to look at him, but his eyes were dull and groggy. “Endeavour, stop. You...it’s too much.”

“ _He_ _hurt you._ ” Dev’s voice was weak. “You...were dying. You can’t. I won’t let you. _”_

_Fuck._

“Dev. Stop.” Jakes was pleading now, unable to free himself from Dev’s weakening grasp. “I’m...you saved me. Okay? I’m…” He wasn’t _well._ His chest still hurt, and no healing spell could replace the blood that he knew was on his shirt. He needed a hospital. But he wasn’t going to die, not for a while at least. “You saved me. Endeavour, please.”

Dev shook his head, his face set with stubbornness. “No. Have to...save you.”

“Dammit, Dev,” Jakes wheezed. He was too weak to pull himself away from Dev, his own magic too busy trying to keep him alive to be of much use. “Endeavour, _please_.”

He could see the pain leaching into Dev’s face. Dark blood was dripping from his chin and oozing sluggishly down the side of his face. _Not good, not good, not good_.

What the hell. What was he supposed to do? He had...he had to stop him. 

People had _died_ from healing spells gone wrong.

Then Dev cried out, and Jakes felt fear race through him, burning like acid.

_There was red on Dev’s chest. Spreading across his shirt._

Exactly where Jakes knew there was a hole in his own chest.

And then Dev collapsed against him, limp and quiet and unmoving.

* * *

He felt a scream tear itself from his own lungs. It was weak, a poor imitation of the anger that dripped from Dev’s own mouth, but it was full of his own rage and fear. 

He cursed Dev in his head. He’d pushed too far, pushed himself over the edge, and now they would both die unless they got help. No one knew where they were, no one knew not to expect them at least for another hour or so. He couldn’t get up, he was too weak. He’d lost too much blood. He could make it to a hospital, Dev had seen to that, but he couldn’t _get_ to a hospital. 

And Dev needed a Healer. Jakes had no idea what he’d done, what the magic had done to Dev. He’d never seen a healing go that wrong, never seen the spell caster bleed from the original injury site.

So he cursed Dev, but only for a moment. Then an idea struck him and he craned his head to see over Dev.

_Thank God._

Dev had handcuffed Williams to the railing. Williams was staring at them, horror in his face.

“ _You_ ,” Jakes rasped. “Daniel.” Williams’ eyes widened and he went two shades paler. “Don’t. Don’t you _dare_ faint now.” 

Venom laced his words, and Williams’ flinched from them. He didn’t care. He was angry. Angry at the boy for shooting him, for hurting Dev. Angry at Williams for causing this mess, for leaving Dev with the choice of revenge or... _this_.

“You did this.” Jakes stared at the trembling young man, praying this would work. “Is this...is this what you wanted?”

He saw Williams’ throat bob. The boy shook his head.

“N-n-no. I didn’t. I really...I didn’t mean...I didn’t want to--”

“ _Good._ ” Jakes cut him off. He didn’t have time, didn’t have the strength for this. He had one shot at this. “Then fix it.”

Williams’ eyes widened. He shook his head violently. “I--I--I can’t. I would but I _can’t_.”

“No,” Jakes spat, allowing the disdain to creep into his tone. “No, you can’t. _He_ did.” His hand--still bloody, damn it--rested on Dev’s shoulder. “And now he’s dying too. We both are. You’ve killed us both, you reckless son of a bitch.”

Williams lurched forwards, arm outstretched to try and help. He jerked back as the handcuff kept him in place. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I---I’m _sorry._ ”

“Will you help me.” Jakes bit off every word, trying to keep himself awake. Williams gulped. Then he nodded. “Call the Guard. You know the number, you called us here, you bastard.” Williams flinched, but didn’t deny it. “Call the Guard. Tell them ‘ _checkmate, the queen is off the board_ ’. Do it _fast_.”

“I’m...I can’t, I’m--” Williams tugged desperately on his cuffs. Jakes breathed a sigh of relief. There was real fear in the boy’s eyes, real fear and honest desperation. 

_They might make it_.

“I can get you out,” Jakes hissed. “But if you fail me, if you fail _him_ , I swear to you I will find a way to haunt you.” He had no idea if he could do that. Probably not. But Williams didn’t have to know that.

The boy whimpered. “I swear...I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t mean for this--”

Jakes whispered the spell, felt himself collapse back against the pavement as his magic protested the misuse of his energy. 

“Go. Go _now._ ” He put the last of his strength into the command.

Jakes heard the cuffs clatter to the floor, heard Williams’ pounding footsteps as he ran.

Jakes closed his eyes and let his head fall back. He wrapped his bloody hand around Dev’s--the one that was still on his arm. 

He’d done what he could. Either they would survive, or they would die together. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when I'm stressed. I have a sudden Need for Angst and Pain and apparently I can speed write it so here we are. 
> 
> Should get the second chapter up tonight. I probably won't sleep well so Late Writing it is!
> 
> For anyone who's wondering, my school moved buildings over the weekend. I'm super excited, but also super nervous. So I'm not anxious for Bad Reasons, just Anxious and Distracting Myself. :D
> 
> Oh, fic + chapter titles from Wait for You (reprise) from Hadestown. Many thanks to guardianoffun for encouraging my bullshit.


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